How much's my face worth: worst case scenario

Hello and welcome to the second installement of my « how much's my face worth ? » series. Series in which I make myself (depressed) realise how much money I cake up on my face on a daily basis. Today's look will be a dewy-spring inspired look, whith a light base and shimmery eyes. Let's see how it goes (shivers...).

Base

Chanel Vitalumière aqua foundation -mmm... Got it in the sale?- (41,50€)

Rimmel « Wake me Up » concealer (7,80€)

Make Up Forever HD loose setting powder -travel size- (14,50€)

Benefit Hoola Bronzer -again, sorry- (34,50€)

Benefit Rockateur blush (34,50€)

The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer Highliter (24,70€)

Eyes/Eyebrows

Nars smudgeproof eyeshadow base (26€)

The balm « Nude Tude » palette (42,30€)
Urban Decay "Naked Basics" Palette (27,50€)

Maybelline studio gel liner in black (11,95€)

Rimmel khôl kajal in 001 black (4€)

Rimmel waterproof khôl kajal in nude (5,50€)

Yves-Rochers mascara -was a gift, I swear- (23,80€)

Benefit « brow zings » eyebrow kit (34,50€)

Lips

L'Oréal color riche lipstick in "Leila's nude" -limited edition- (13,50€)

Total : 346,55€

Well, I guess we can say that spring is expensive. I'm now going to make a pathetic attempt at justifying myself by saying that I used all of the most expensive products of my collection for this look. I thinks it's one of the « most expensive faces » I ever wear, but still, I recognize this is exessive.

I would love to hear your opinion on this makeup look. If you also did a « how much's my face worth ? », feel free to link it down below and you can be sure that I'll check it out.

Have a lovely day,

Maddy

10 Beauty things I suck at

I've been interested in everything fashion-beauty related for the past few years, and with that came the desire to avoid looking like a hot mess. Even though on a daily basis I'm doing my best to not scare people away as soon as they see my face, there still are many beauty (and lifestyle, but lets stick to beauty for today shall we?) related things I am absolute crap at ! But you know what ? It's ok to suck ! Oh, you suck too ? Let's all suck together then !

Beauty things I just... can't/don't do :

1-My hair : Pinterest tutorials ? Tried. Failed. Youtube ? Same. I can't even dry my mane properly !

2- My nails : For some reason, my left hands feels handicaped as soon as it touches a nail polish. Plus who manages to wait patiently for their nails to dry ? I mean...no peeing, no face scratching, no eating, no moving (?) for at least five whole minutes !

3- Moisturizing my body : Can't be arsed. I rarely feel like waiting fifteen minutes naked in my bathroom for my body to dry.

4-Contouring : The only thing I'll ever give Kim K credit for. I just can't do contouring whithout looking like a muddy mess. My skin is so pale I need to be very light handed with bronzer, and I'm not that kind of delicate, careful girl.

5-Throwing out expired products : I'm willing to admit that this one is a little dodgy, but to me if a products still smells/looks good even after its expiring date, that means it's still usable.

6-Lining my lips : I have to invest in a few lip liners, I still don't own any. It's a struggle to pull of a good looking red lip when your lipstick desperatly tries to escape your mouth's edges, believe me.

7-Khôl eyeliner : I just don't do khôl (exept in my waterline). It either thugs onto my eyelids, lumps up, looks inequal, smudges, doesn't smuge as I want it... Liquid liner ! Liquid liner is good.

8-Keeping my jewellery : The reason I don't buy expensive jewellery (other than the fact that I don't have the money for it, obviously) is that I know I'll loose it. Whether it's at a friend's, in the changing rooms while trying clothes on, in my bedroom (in my vacuum cleaner)... You can be sure these beautiful earring will end up disappearing !

9-Haircair: I currently have dry ass straw hair, with extremely split ends. Why ? Because I don't take care of it properly. I just shampoo every two days, slap on some 1min conditionner before blowdrying it fully (ain't anybody got time for cold blowdrying!) whithout using any heat protecter. I do realise how stupid it is, I just prefer spending money on makeup than on haircair...thanks fucked up priorities !

10- Buying what I need : this point has a link whith the precedent one. If I need a white blouse, I'll go shopping for it and come back with a blue bag. If I'm on the look out for a new foundation/lip liner/eyelash curler, you'll see me come back from my shopping trip with an eyeshadow palette. I'm too much of an impuls buyer, who has to think more about what she needs and will use rather than what she wants on a given moment.

So there you go, that was a tiny sample of the numerous things I'm awful at ! In which domain do you suck ?

See you next time,

Maddy

Chopping it off

I made my decision. I'm going to chop them off. Chop of the locks I've been groing for a year and a half now. Nothing too extreme though, as I'm planning to hop on the « lob » (long-bob) bandwagon. So many celebrities have made « the cut » last year, and it tends to look amazing on every single one of them, independently of their hair color and texture. I have a fair amout of hair, that easily get frizzy/wavy, depending on its mood, so I gathered up a few of my favorite « celebrity lobs », keeping myself away from the straight ones I know I'll never achieve. Hopefully a pre-summer makeover will rejuvanate my dry-broken mane.

What is your opinion about the «lob »? (can't get enough of that word, sorry...)

1:Ciara - 2:Ashley Benson - 3:Kate Mara - 4:Lily Collins 5:Ashley Green - 6:Camilla Bell

Have a Lovely day,

Maddy

Springy Asos picks

Seems like spring is creeping up on us frenchies again. It comes to say hi for a few days before leaving us bare-legged and freezing on a cold day of march. As everybody else, I quite want to build a new wardrobe for the upcomming season. To me, spring is all about swapping your dark, gloomy plain fabrics for lighter, cream, pastel, lacy ones (as you'll probably be able to tell, I absolutely love lace). I coudln't think of a better place than ASOS.com to drool over new spring collections. Clothing-wise, Asos strangely has every single piece you need to « springify » your wardrobe. These are a few of my favorites (bear in mind I didn't brows through the beauty section of the website, otherwise this whislist would've been another makeupy-one, because I have no willpower)

Jackets

1: River Island Pastel Biker Jacket

2: ASOS Linen Tailored Blazer

Tops

1: New Look Lace Shoulder Cardigan

2: ASOS Cape With Crochet Lace Hem

3: Only White Woven Shirt

4: Vero Moda V Neck Shell Top

5: Oasis Daisy Lace Top

Bottoms

1: ASOS Rivington High Waist Denim 

2: New Look Skinny Zip Detail Jean

3: ASOS Ridley Skinny Ankle Grazer Jeans in White

4: River Island Lace Pencil Skirt With Modesty Lining

Shoes

1: Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Core White Ox Trainers

2: ASOS HEADS OR TAILS Heeled Sandals

3: New Look Pool Stack Platform Heeled Sandals

Jewellery

1: Olivia Burton Big Dial Rose Gold Watch

2: Orelia Stone Long Necklace

3: ASOS Fine Chain Linked Rings

4: Orelia Pretty Stone Open Cuff Bracelet

5: ASOS Kitten Sunglasses With Metal Top 

Accessories

1: Ted Baker Patent Crosshatch Across Body Bag

2: ASOS Skinny Band Felt Floppy Hat

3: New Look French Bulldog Handle Umbrella

Hope you've found some springspiration (too long on the computer, sorry),

Have a lovely day,

Maddy

My one True match

 

I caved in. I bought the uber-hyped, very well loved, « True match » foundation by l'Oréal. I'm the last person to belive in astrolgy/signs/god/fate and all the rest, but I'm going to defend myself by telling you it was meant to be. I saw my shade (the lightest, obviously) available in store for the first time, the same day I started to realise I was running out of my beloved « match perfection » foundation by rimmel. This used to be my staple « Not risky, not dewy, not matt, medium coverage, last a good amount of time foundation . Let me tell you it has been dethroned.

First of all, l'Oréal true match's packaging is flawless. Not beautiful, not luxurious, but practical (thanks to the pump) and sturdy . The foudation has a medium but buildable coverage, and one pump tends to be enough for me to cover my entire face, hiding everything that needs hiding, whithout giving a cakey finish at all. The product is quite liquidy, which makes it very light-weight and comfortable on the skin. But what surprised me the most was the drugstore gem's lasting power : I wore it for over fifteen hours the other day (yeah, I know, not good) , and at the end of that, it still looked pretty damn decent ; not fresh (come on, which foundation would look fresh after all that sweaty time?), but not all over the place either. Bear in mind that I have normal skin though, I don't know what it would look like on an oilier skin-type.

Now I believe this foundation comes in 13 shades in France, R1-C1  « rose Ivory » being the lightest and my perfect color match (pink toned, super fair) and retails for 15,50€ here (but I actually found it a lot cheaper in store). It's worth every single penny, as I think the quality of this product lives up to many high end foundations.

I'm still open for any good foundation subjection though, feel free to leave some in the comments.

See you soon,

Maddy

To do...

To the big procrastinator that I am here are a few thing you are now going to have to do, because you've just commited to them in front of the entire internet.

Find yourself a spanish teacher : Being homeschooled (post about all that right here if you're interested) means I have no other teacher than myself. Which, when you're supposed to learn a language is a bit of a bummer. I'm currently looking for a spanish boy/girl who would teach me his language against babysitting or english/french/violin lessons. Finding one isn't an easy task.

Go snoop around for job experiences : There are a few places in my countryside in which I would love to do some work experience, but either there is an insurance problem, transport problem or I'm just too shy/scared to ask. I decided I would stop being a woos (oh, there's a post on that to, just here) and ask the buisness owners if I can come and bother them for a week or so.

Get back into your school work : Not gonna lie. I've been slacking a bit on my school work lately. It's now time to pick myself up, sit at my desk and again realise how much I like working.

Go and ask about the short story contest : I've heard about a short-story competition in Angoulême, which has for theme « public transport ». Since I love writing, I think I'm going to participate (got' nothing to loose have I?) but beforehand, I need to ask a few questions about the rules. In town. 45 mins away from my home. Happy there's public transport huh ?

Cook something new : I always cook the same things, stick to meals I know I love and never get out of my comfort zone. My « recipe I want to try » list is suuuper long but I never seem to actually try new dishes. Time for a change!

Read a « proper » book : I'm not in a « reading mood » at the moment, all I seem to be able to ingurgitate are mangas and light hearted short story books. But I have to remember that reading the classics is a huuge part of my course for the Bac. Careful, Zola, I'm coming...

Here you go, these are the things you have to do, you egocentric, third-person speaker.

See you next time,

Maddy

Weirdest quotes from my school teachers

I think all kids tend to idolise adults, submit to their authority and  consider everything they say as the truth. But here I am to break the myth whith a few (real) funny/stupid quotes from different ex-teachers of mine, enjoy :

-« There are no hôtels in England, only bed and breakfasts »

-« There are very few varieties of cheese in England »

-« Birds don't get shocked on eletric wires because they have a special thing on their feets » (100% real, I promise)

-« Every North African has fuzzy hair »

I one day corrected my teacher for using « can » instead of « may » she responded :

-« Yes, you're right, but that's not on this year's curriculum »

- « Most of you aren't going to finish the year, but that's a good thing because the classes are overcrowded anyways »

-« It's normal you failed the test about last year's program, science has shown that you only remember ?% of the information you intake in class » 

- « No, she can't be cheating, she's a good student » (she was very, very cheating indeed)

A teacher had a tantrum and just screamed :

- « I want a copybook, buy a copybook » (humm, would work better if you stamped your feet ?)

- « Why do you only have a mobile phone number, your family can't afford to buy a home phone ? »

- « Raise your hand to ask if you may go to the toilet » (guess who peed her pants?)

- « Don 't fart in the classroom, ask if you might (cross the entire playground ) go to the toilet »

- « If you don 't have a mobile, it means your parents don't think you're responsible »

-  « If you're bored in class, try homeschooling » 

Here we go, these are a few phrases that lulled my child (and teenage)hood.

Hope this post's made you laugh,

I would love to hear stupid phrases you've grown up hearing, please leave a comment down below,

See you soon,

Maddy

Current book envies

Hardbacks/coffee table books

Love Tanya by Tanya Burr : Being a huge fan of the vlogger herself, it's surprinsing I still haven't bought a copy of her book. From what I saw, it seems like a very entertaing coffee table book, featuring beautiful pictures, great recipes, fashion/beauty tips... On top of that, I would love to know a bit more about the beauty guru's life (creepy ? Sorry...).

Glam Guide by Fleur de force : Another beauty guru-y book, Fleur owns one of my favourites youtube channel of all times (FleurdeForce) and buying her work feels evident.

Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes : The « beauty bible » everyone is talking about at the moment (well...a few weeks ago). As usual, I'm late to the party but I did download an extract from this book on my kindle, and absolutely loved it! One day I swear I'll get my hands on the (entire) hardback version of this beauty tips goldmine.

Makeup Manual by Bobbi Brown : Even though I have never tried Bobbi Brown Cosmetics before (can't find them in France), I've heard so many mouth watering (or eye-watering, really, since I can't get my hands on them) things about the line. The book seems pretty good as well, in the same lines as « pretty honest » but with many more illustrations.

How to be a parisian, wherever you are by Caroline de Maigret, Anne Berest, Sophie Mas and Audrey Diwan : Yes I'm french. No I'm not from Paris, No I don't have class in my genes and Yes I could use some help in the fashion department, that's when this book would come in handy. Plus, isn't the cover illustration gorgeous ?

Novels

Yes please by Amy Poelher : Button bookshelf. Sold me. Neeeeeed this book !

Wild by Cheryl Strayed : OK. Button bookshelf again, but don't blame me, Essie is amazing (if you don't know who I'm talking about, click right here and get stuck in front of her videos for a few hours, you're welcome)! The theme of this book seems quite unique and reflexion-worthy. I promised myself I'd read it before watching the film.

Gone girl  by  Gillian Flynn: I've seen mixed reviews on this novel. But again, I refuse to watch the film before giving this thriller a read.

Et Voilà ! These are a few of my current book-envies (I have sooo many others but I don't want to bore you with them).

Hopefully this list will have given you some reading ideas and tell me, what's on your reading list?

See you soon,

Maddy

A Little Something

A little bubble of Britishness in the middle of Angoulême, that's the best way I've found to describe «A little something ». I cannot go to town without popping into this charming boutique, full of English (and American...and Harry Potter-esq) treats, going from tea cakes to salt and vinegar crisps, passing by cadbury's chocolate, cake mixes and peanut butter cups. If you've ever wondered, my favourites are the mini eggs, jelly popping chocolate and worstershire sauce pop corn (you heard me correctly, it's amazing!), of course I can't forget the chocolate oranges (I found a few limited edition dark ones...in the middle of january!). These mouth-watering sweets only represent about a third of the boutique, which also sells mugs (my weakness), stationnary, adorable bags and wallets, thermos flasks, molds, cards, Yankee Candles... in short about every single cute looking, incredibly tempting item you could possibly think of.

Une petite bulle d'Angleterre au milieu d'Angoulême, c'est pour moi la meilleure façon de décrire « A Little Something ». Une sortie en ville n'en est pas vraiment une sans petit tour de cette charmante boutique, pleine de denrées anglaises (et américaines...et Harry Potter-esques ?), allant des tea cakes aux chips sel-vinaigre, en passant par le chocolat de chez cadbury, les mix pour gâteaux et les « peanut butter cups » de chez Reese's. Personnellement, j'ai un faible pour les mini eggs, le chocolat qui «pop » dans la bouche et le pop corn à la sauce worstershire (vous avez bien entendu, ne me jugez pas sans avoir essayé!) sans oublier les oranges au chocolat (j'ai pu en trouver au chocolat noir - éditions limités de Noël - au milieu du mois de janvier!). Cette délicieuse malbouffe ne représente en réalité qu'un tiers du magasin, qui vends aussi des mugs (j'ai besoin de mugs, toujours plus de mugs!), de la papeterie, des sacs et porte-monnaie originaux, des thermos, des moules, des cartes, des Yankee Candles... à peu près n'importe quel article adorable et tentant auquel vous pourriez penser.

In the back of the shop, next to a music-diffusing TV, are english books you can borrow (you can also drop some for people to pick up, if you have too many, like my book-hoarder of a dad) and a couple of couches on which you can sit down for a cup of tea (oh so british!).

A l'arrière de la boutique, à côté d'une télé diffusant de la musique, sont quelques livres anglais empruntables (vous pouvez aussi en déposer quelques-uns, si vous en avez trop, comme mon grand lecteur de père) et une paire de canapés sur lesquels vous pouvez vous avachir pour prendre un thé (tellement Brit' tout ça!).

The establishment is owned by a very sweet lady, who clames to have tasted every single delicacy she sells (except for the smoked oysters, I wonder why...).

La propriétaire de l'établissement est adorable et dit avoir testé chacun des mets qu'elle vends (hormis les huîtres fumées, on se demande pourquoi...).

To be completely honest with you, if I accidently came to be stuck in any shop overnight, I would choose this one, not only for its cosy atmosphere but for the possibility of having THE biggest chocolate/sweets taste test the world has ever seen. Whenever I drag my family into this bubble, I find my dad's eyes shining whith nostalgia («hey Maddy, I used to have these as a kid, they're absolutely disgusting») and my sister completely overwhelmed by the piles of sweets.

Pour être complètement honnête, si je devais choisir un magasin pour y être accidentellement coincée après sa fermeture (très improbable, je l'admets), je choisirais celui-ci, non-seulement pour son ambiance très « cosy », mais aussi pour le plaisir de m'adonner à la plus grande dégustation de l'histoire de l'humanité. Quand, par un énième jour pluvieux, je traîne ma famille dans la boutique, les yeux de mon père brille de nostalgie («hey Maddy, j'avais ça quand j'étais gosse, c'est immangeable ») et ceux de ma sœur se perdent dans les piles de bonbons.

So, if you find yourself in the not so busy streets of Angoulême, I definitely recommend you get your sweet tooth (or savory tooth?), cute accesory/candle hoarding addiction or simply tea craving, into «A little something », you won't regret it !

Si jamais vous venez à vous trouver dans les rues pas si bondées d'Angoulême, je vous recommande d'aller satisfaire votre gourmandise, envie d'accessoires ou simplement de thé en allant faire un tour dans « A Little Something », vous ne le regretterez pas !

                                                                 A Little Something

35 rue de Genève

16000 Angoulême

0545924224

See you soon,

Maddy

Fear...

This blog post nearly didn't make it past the « publish » button. Because I was afraid, afraid that you might not want to read the story and advice given by an inexperienced fourteen year old, afraid that talking about my little first world problems and fears would offend people that are going through « real » and « more important » tough times.

The writing of this post is one of the many times where fear creeps into my life and keeps me from doing what I want. Like the time I know a violin piece on the tips of my finger but get paralized in front of the judges/an audience and become incapable of playing. Like the times I miss an opportunity to talk to somebody because I'm afraid of what they might think about me. Or like the time I completely freak out in a crowded shop for nor reason at all and suddently want to cry.

Here's a fun fact : I'm not afraid of heights, or speed and I would gladly bungee/parachute jump. What I fear the most is little tings in my day to day life, things that most people wouldn't think of as being scary.

A week back, I went on holiday (see post here) to visit a friend I had only talked to online, never had met. I had to take the train, twice, sleep in her family house, with people I didn't know at all, give up my stupid little granny habbits, my tea before bead, my 45min makeup session every mornings, all of my little Tics and OCD moments... And that terrorised me even though I tried so hard to convinced myself that I could be like any other teens and socialise « normally ». I finally went, and you know what ? It turned out to be an absolutely great week ! The train journey was a piece of cake, everybody in the house was really nice, and I had so much fun I forgot about all of my crippling little habits.

You may think I'm not the most « qualified » to talk about fear, as I don't suffer from an extreme anxiety that keeps me stuck at home. But I do believe that everybody's resticting their possibilities to live the best life possible to a certain extent, and that's all because they're scared.

I decided I would try to work on overcoming my fears, whether it's by doing as many auditions as I can to get better in front of a public, trying to say yes (as Zoella said, just say « Yes ») everytime I get an opportunity to do something, as daunting as it is, daring to ask questions whithout being worried of looking stupid, dressing as I want, going out bare faced, letting myself be unorganised for one day... I'm not talking about getting rid of fear, but about overcoming it, as it is my definition of true courage. I know it'll not be done in a day, that the journey to bravoury is a life-long one, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

Hopefully, it will make my life a lot more enjoyable, less stressfull, and a lot more interesting.

That's the end of my little ramble about fear, now let me ask you, what are you afraid of? Please tell me in the comment below.

Thank you for reading,

Maddy

Because I'm hatty!

Ladies and gents, let me introduce you to the only structured hat that I can wear without looking like Michael Jackson. No, seriously I am in love with this fedora hat from H&M (similar here), even though it's very out of my confort zone, I find it instantly turns a plain/boring outfit into one that could come out of a film. It's a little Breakfast at Tiffany-esq but not as dramatic, don't you think ?

Ho, and it doubles up as an umbrella, and god knows I need one in my rainy Charente.

Makeup:

Base: Chanel Vitalumière aqua, Rimmel wake me up concealer, Make Up Forever HD powder and full cover concealer, Benefit Hoola and dandelion boxed blushes, The balm Mary-lou manizer.

Eyes/brows: Benefit brow zing, The Balm nude tude, Beneit they're real, Rimmel khols in nude and black.

Lips: Bourjois rouge edition in 36 « Pourpre Jazzy »

Have a lovely day,
Maddy